As the co-chair and co-CEO of Panda Restaurant Group, Peggy Cherng helms one of the most iconic Chinese-American businesses in the U.S. Her popular Panda Express chain, which serves over 90 million pounds of orange chicken a year, has some 2,000 locations in 50 states, with far flung outposts spanning from Saudi Arabia to Guatemala. But the self-made woman, who was born in Burma and raised in Hong Kong, sees giving as a pillar of her famous company. “I think as first generation immigrants, we benefit a lot from the communities that we do business with,” explains Cherng of her desire to pay it forward.

A former electrical engineer (she once coded simulators for the U.S. Navy), Cherng was set for a career in tech when she quit her job at Comtal-3M to join husband Andrew in running Panda Inn, then a small sit-down Chinese restaurant, in 1982. The duo expanded to fast-casual dining a year later, when they opened the first Panda Express in a Glendale, California mall. While Andrew had a mind for business, Peggy excelled at operations, developing software to track inventory and customer orders.

Peggy’s technical expertise gave the Chinese fast-serve chain an edge over rival competition, and Panda Restaurant Group opened its 100th store by 1993; the Rosemead, California based firm now reels in more than $3 billion a year in sales. When it came time to give back, another famous local institution, the California Institute of Technology, became a natural choice for the Cherngs.

“We’re just leveraging the engineering know-how of Caltech,” says Peggy, who has sat on the institute’s board since 2012. “I see the good work they’ve done in the innovation side -- they’re very good in the aerospace area and also the deep sea area.” However, Caltech was also trying to get deeper into medical engineering, which resonated with Peggy, who holds a master’s degree in computer science and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering.

“This is something that we can sponsor,” Peggy decided. In 2017, the Cherngs pledged $30 million to endow Caltech’s medical engineering department, which has multidisciplinary teams that work with clinicians to develop devices such as implants and non-invasive imaging machines. Recent research ranges from a mobile app that uses your smartphone camera to measure heart health to microchips that can travel through your body to diagnose disease.

“Our mission is to help other people live better lives,” says Peggy. “With our support of Caltech, they can develop some devices to better people’s lives, that is something that touches our hearts.”

The same sentiment led the Cherngs to set up Panda Cares, the philanthropic arm of Panda Restaurant Group, in 1999. Panda employees help run the organization, and to get the customers involved, the Cherngs rolled out donation boxes at all Panda Express restaurants in 2010. “Our mission is serving underserved children in health and education,” says Peggy. “The other [purpose] is to inspire and grow our associates in giving.”

Since 1999, Panda Cares has raised $107 million, with $89 million coming from in-store donation boxes. One of the first causes it backed was building children into leaders of tomorrow. “Our belief is that everything comes down to character. If we can develop strong culture for our young children, they can conquer anything,” explains Peggy. “The most important thing is to have self-belief, self-respect.” To that end, Panda Cares has given nearly $41 million to The Leader In Me, a program that teaches leadership and life skills while reducing disciplinary problems. The funding has enabled the curriculum to be implemented in 865 elementary schools across 39 states.

Panda Cares also has a longstanding partnership with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, a nonprofit that distributes funds to 170 hospitals across the U.S. and Canada for research, equipment purchase and uncompensated care. “We really emphasize on how we can help people who can’t help themselves,” Peggy says. “Particularly underserved children.”

Her organization has given more than $37 million to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals since 2003, and also supports college access and readiness programs. In addition, Panda Cares donated $3.9 million for disaster relief following Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria, and has provided 1.3 million meals to underserved children and their families. “Our associates feel very proud right now to ask guests for the change, because they know they’re doing good for the community,” says Peggy. “They know the money is going to go into underserved children.”